Comment 30 of 51, added on October 18th, 2005 at 3:52 AM.

The poem has all the possibilities commented on above. On reading Rachel's email, i thought she was right and that Thomas does, to some extent(but not entirely i feel)appear to reject the more proverbial representation of death in art, which is primarily shaped by religious teachings. This idea is ironised by the repetitve, sermon-like structure of each stanza, beginning and ending with "And death shall have no dominion". The first stanza introduces the romantic idea of love all enduring as a conqueror of death, but then Thomas mixes symbols of nature, purity and fragility, with harsh, aggresive images ("twisting on racks"), and doesn't allow the reader to settle into a predictable pattern of poetic cliches. There is a definite sense of an ongoing cycle, or a circle of life (for want of a better expression) as in "heads of the characters hammer through daisies", but this is made brutal by the hammer, which invokes the image of hammering nails into a coffin. The poem is fascinating, there is no definite or clear meaning, but it is intensely provoking.

lizzie from United Kingdom

Comment 28 of 51, added on September 26th, 2005 at 2:19 PM.

Who asked anyone for meaning, explanation? If this poem meant something to you, then that is why one shares poems. Take it for face value! AND sharing of ideas about the cool facets is ENTIRELY the point. But not propagandist conclusions and supposition of deeper meaning for you to conclude with. I like red wine and cheese! Appreciate that of me...Don't tell me what it means! And for everyone that was touched by this poem, feels good doesn't it? Peace!

4ilu, Bella

kenji from United States

Comment 26 of 51, added on September 18th, 2005 at 8:21 AM.

I hate to be pedantic but... Having read Dino's comment, I also felt compelled to 'get my two cents worth' in. Now, I think poetry, like all art, is a deeply personal release. No two persons thought processes are identical, they may be similar but never identical. The way I percieve a certain subject or situation will be different to the next man's. So to preach about the hidden meanings applied to a piece of art or poetry is a selfish imposition. Especially when your own grasp of semantics, grammar and spelling leave a lot to be desired. My own personal thought is that Dylan Thomas's imagination was not constrained to one focal point but encompassed many aspects of life and death. Of course, it is impossible to ignore the references to the unity of the universe but there are also specific references to life after death. Who knows what Thomas meant except Thomas? Maybe we should ask the daisies.

Spike from United Kingdom

Comment 24 of 51, added on September 13th, 2005 at 5:14 PM.

Im sorry. I know this will probably irritate some people but i feel compelled to speak. I have read all comments posted to date and 99% seem to view the work as a simile for religion and life after death. All, or most at least seem transfixed by the concept/hope that after death a weightless, massless, invisible ethereal 'image' of our physical selves will continue to exist in a state of eternal bliss, on streets paved with gold; 95% of the worlds population believe in some form of religion. Yet all recorded history is filled with war, hatred and terrorism in the name of god. 99% of all species that have existed in earths 4.5 billion year history are extinct. The universe is a very complicated ballet, yet never is it out of balance. e=mc^2. mass changes to energy, and visa versa, but the balance never fails. The atoms in our body come from exploding stars, and will return from whence it came as energy and mass continue to dance. the poem is an abstract metaphore for humanities one great gift to the the universe, adding to its whole, yet leaving its balance undisturbed.



brad from United States

Comment 22 of 51, added on September 13th, 2005 at 4:42 PM.

i dont think the dylan was refering to death at all. He used it as a metaphore to describe our greatest gift to nature. Love. The entire poem is defined by the line in the first stanza, "though lovers be lost, love thall not". With the rest of the poem he illuminates how the gift of love humans have bestowed upon the universe not only makes us immortal (not individually but metaphorically) but adds something unique to the universe which no power can ever take away.

brad from United States